Pini Dunner
ARTICLES BY: Pini Dunner
A Lesson to Remember This Yom Kippur
When Barnett Isaacs stepped off the boat at Cape Town in 1873, his entire commercial inventory consisted of 40 boxes of cigars. He was 21,...
This Year, Rosh Hashanah Should Be a Source of Celebration — Not Despair
In 1544, a Flemish instrument-maker named Gerard de Kremer was arrested in Rupelmonde, near Antwerp, and thrown into the castle dungeon on suspicion of heresy....
The Lesson That Parshat Nitzavim Has for Each of Us Today
Victor Lustig was born in 1890 in Arnau, today known as Hostinné, a small town in Bohemia. Later in life, he would introduce himself as...
Parshat Ki Tavo: The Wanderer Was the Aristocrat All Along
In early 1897, 800 of New York's wealthiest citizens received the summons of the season: Bradley and Cornelia Martin were throwing a costume ball at...
What Parshat Ki Teitzei Asks Jewish People to Do Today
At the end of the 19th century, the United States Post Office employed a remarkable woman whose work required detective instinct, linguistic brilliance, an encyclopedic...
Jewish Leaders Must Treat Community Members as Their Brothers and Sisters
Last week, California State Senator Scott Wiener introduced a proposal that is pure San Francisco. He wants the tunnel through Yerba Buena Island, which connects...
During Changing Times, the Torah Must Stay Consistent
The railway is one of the greatest inventions in human history. It conquered distance, accelerated commerce, and made travel safer, cheaper, and more comfortable. Trains and...
Parshat Eikev: Why Moses’ Message Still Matters Today
There is a particular kind of story that never grows old. It is retold in every generation, in every language, and through every medium—because, beneath...
Why Tisha B’Av — and the Current Moment — Are Not the End of the Story
The Tisha B’Av experience is utterly unique. You sit on the floor in the half-dark, your shoes off, your voice cracking through the dirge-like cadences...
Devarim and the Man Who Refuses to Be Broken
There is a particular quality to the voice of a man who has been trampled but refuses to be broken. I heard it this week...
The Dream of Chachmei Lublin
Earlier this week, together with a group from America and the UK brought together by Project Mesorah, I stood inside the original building of Yeshivas Chachmei...
This Is What I Just Saw on the Ground in Israel
This week, I traveled through Israel. Not the Israel of Western media headlines, international panels, diplomatic statements, campus encampments, sanctimonious editorials, or foreign politicians who...
The Fight for the Future of the Jewish Community Is Happening Right Now in Europe
Next Thursday, Jews around the world will begin the Three Weeks, the annual period of mourning for the destruction of ancient Jerusalem and its two...
Parshat Korach: When Words Are Not Enough
There is something wonderfully reassuring about the phrase "Memorandum of Understanding." It sounds sober and civilized. "Memorandum" conveys confidence — it is official; it is...
